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While the death of a Belgian pilgrim last September on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela remains an enigma, the relatives of Jeroen Schelstrate followed the trial in Spain of a certain Miguel Angel Muñoz Blas.

For a reason: the 41-year-old Spaniard was accused of the murder in April 2015 of an American woman who, like our compatriot, carried out the pilgrimage of Saint-Jacques alone.

The resemblances do not stop there. The victims were the same age. Each time, the bodies were concealed. Even more curious is the geographical proximity. Denise Pikka was killed in Castrillo de los Polvazares while the body of Jeroen Schelstraete was found in San Roman de la Vega. Distance between the two: 11.5 kilometers.

And yet, the two cases have no a priori link. When Jeroen died, his neck broken, the murderer of the American woman was already in detention. His trial, which has just ended, has at least allowed the Belgian family to learn how the peregrina was killed. Horribly.

Miguel Muñoz would have attracted her in a trap he laid out by placing false signs on the route. She was allegedly beaten on the head with a blunt object, causing fractures and trauma leading to her death. Miguel Angel Muñoz Blas then transported the body to an isolated place, cut her neck with a knife and cut off both hands before stripping and burying her. He then buried her body, burned the clothes and took the 1,132 dollars she was carrying on her.

That is what has finally caused him to lose the game.The disappearance took place in April 2015. The investigation had been stalled for months. The American pilgrim remained untraceable. In September, the investigators learned that a certain Miguel Muñoz Blas had changed dollars in euros, at a date close to the disappearance of Denise Pikka. Munoz made a confession and agreed to lead the investigators to the place where he had buried the corpse. Her hands have not been found.

The trial of the killer of the Camino de Compostela - he was sentenced to 23 years imprisonment - has given hope to the family of the Belgian pilgrim. "This trial shows us that everything is possible even after months, and we have had no news since November. So see what happened with Muñoz: it took months to identify him."

Jeroen Schelstraete was found on September 9, 2016 in a container park in San Roman de la Vega. Someone had gotten rid of the body by throwing it into compost container, not far from the place where the murder of the peregrina killed in 2015 took place. As for the Belgian, two hypotheses are envisaged: a homicide, or a hit-and-run accident. Assuming homicide and imagining a link - style: a common accomplice - Munoz will not be of any help.

Hiding himself behind the right to silence, he was silent throughout the trial and the jury convicted him without him speaking a word. "I feel abandoned," says Rita Lootens, Jeroen's mother, "I do not have access to the file in Spain, I'm afraid they are not really trying to solve the matter, it's easier to hush things up. It's very bad for tourism, is not it?"

Let us remain objective: the arrest and conviction of Munoz prove exactly the opposite.

Approximately 200,000 pilgrims - men and women - each year start on the Camino, the road to Compostela route. Among them are 4,000 Belgian walkers.

BBM

I was looking for news about the appeal ~ no news to be found ~ and then this turned up. Let us not forget Jeroen and his fiancee Wendy. I hope this is solved soon, why hasn't that happened already?! IMHO Muñoz Blas is the solitary type and he never had any accomplice and shared his 'hobbies' with no one.

Spanish police have opened an investigation into the death of a Belgian man of 41 years in the north of Spain, the federal department of foreign affairs indicated Monday. Today, we know a little more about the man's identity. According to the first findings of the investigation, his death would not have been natural.

An investigation was opened after the death of a Belgian man of 41 years in northern Spain. The body of the victim was found on a compost heap in the town of San Román de la Vega, in the province of León. The man is Jeroen Schelstraete. The traveller from Ghent was a pilgrim who was on the road to Santiago de Compostela at the time of the tragedy, according to the site Het Laatste Nieuws.

The autopsy offered more information about the man's death. According to the first results of the investigation, his death is not natural. The hiker would have been robbed by three men while on his journey. They took his phone, his money, his bag and medications for asthma and heart problems. With nothing on him, police mistook him for a beggar. The Belgian man ended up in a police station for several hours, according to the explanations given by Wendy, his companion, according to Het Laatste Nieuws. After being released, Jeroen phoned his mother to tell her about his misadventure.

But after this call, no news from the pilgrim was received by the two women. Then they got a message on Facebook. Someone was trying to contact them to tell them that a worker had found a body in a compost pile. It was necessary to identify the remains. The mother went to Spain. She recognized the face of her son on photos. She could not see Jeroen due to poor condition in which his body was.

According to initial assumptions, the man from Ghent was hit by a car and the driver would have swung him, alive or dead, into "a compost dump nearby the scene of the collision (...) The Investigators do not rule out a premeditated criminal act," it said on the site of the newspaper. The circumstances of the death are still a mystery.

The man from Ghent and his companion had become engaged a few days before the tragedy occurred.
Wendy had to leave Jeroen and return to Belgium for work. "Jeroen had just asked me to marry in Spain. We were going to set a date on his return to Belgium. I left him in Burgos. But I had no concern because he really knew the area," the woman aged 35 tells.

Jeroen Schelstraete was planning to finish his ninth solo pilgrimage on September 20. "He was thrown like a dog on a pile of garbage. What lowlife can do something that?" the woman asks, collapsing.

BBM

Allegedly, the robbery occured on Wednesday September 7 in or near León, and the body was found on September 9.
At the plant in San Román de la Vega, before composting, they habitually check the containers with material (branches, leaves etc) for stuff that does not belong (like matresses). That is how they found him in time.
If not, Jeroen would probably have disappeared from the surface of the earth.

This is simply horrifying, wondering how many other " beggars " have been found murdered or not found at all?
How many people might have fallen into the web that spider Miguel Angel Muñoz spun, where else has he been and has he made other people seemingly disappear?
imo, speculation.

This is simply horrifying, wondering how many other " beggars " have been found murdered or not found at all?
How many people might have fallen into the web that spider Miguel Angel Muñoz spun, where else has he been and has he made other people seemingly disappear?
imo, speculation.

MAMB was safely locked up in jail when this happened.
But if the remains of Jeroen had not been discovered at the plant, Jeroen would have disappeared from the earth completely and he never would have been found.
IMHO whoever did this to Jeroen probably hoped that this would happen. Mind you, it may have been accident to begin with.

I think Jeroen's case is solvable.

The odd thing about MAMB is that he moved his entire house from Madrid to Castrillo de los Polvazares. If he had killed anyone there previously, LE would probably have found some traces. LE is still looking for possible other victims, especially female pilgrims whom nobody is missing. Hard to imagine how you search for such persons.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity ~ Hanlon's Razor

Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, the convicted of the murder of the pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem, will no longer be an inmate of the Villahierro Provincial Penitentiary Center. In the early hours of the morning he will be transferred to Madrid IV, the penitentiary located in the Navalcarnero area of Madrid, after Penitentiary Institutions accepted his request to change centers because of family ties, since the parents of the author of the murder reside in the vicinity of Madrid and thus could visit more regularly.

Muñoz Blas did not receive a particularly high number of visits since his detention in Villahierro in September 2015. Only very close relatives have attended the meetings that had been scheduled in the penitentiary of Mansilla de las Mulas. He maintained a life of a certain normality, with little contact with the rest of inmates and with behaviour that was somewhat peculiar in some cases, although everything within the range of normality.
Muñoz Blas is waiting for the appeal raised by his lawyer before the High Court of Castilla y León against the conviction imposed by the Provincial Court of León. After the guilty verdict of the jury that judged his case last April, the Provincial Court determined that he was undoubtedly the author of the violent death of Pikka Thiem in April 2015, while the young woman was walking the Camino de Santiago alone.

The sentence issued by the president of the court, Carlos Javier Álvarez, condemned the accused to 20 years for the crime of murder and three more for the robbery with violence, since after assassinating the pilgrim by hitting her, he appropriated her belongings, among them 1,132 dollars.

In addition to the prison sentence, the sentence condemns Muñoz Blas to compensate the parents of the victim with 120,000 euros and her brother with 30,000 euros.

The ruling emphasized "the special gravity of the acts committed" by Muñoz Blas in regard to having caused the death of the pilgrim "by means of a sudden and unexpected aggression with a forceful object". "The heavy blow struck on the side of the head resulted in a fatal injury, without the motivation being known that led the accused to perform such a barbarous act."

BBM

So there has been an appeal.... I wonder how long this will take, and what the grounds for appeal could possibly be.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity ~ Hanlon's Razor

The defense of the only man convicted of the murder of the American pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem has filed an appeal at the Court of Justice of Castilla y León against the verdict that sentenced the perpetrator to 23 years in prison.
In his appeal, the lawyer insists - as he has done throughout the trial - on the violation of fundamental rights, considering that the right of defense has not been respected during the first police proceedings and alleging irregularities in the detention that was carried out with an impressive police presence, in the town of Grandas de Salime in Asturias

According to the lawyer of the private prosecution, Fernando Rodriguez Santocildes, "all these issues were already dismissed at the time by the TSJ of Castilla y León, when they were claimed in the appeal against the resolution that dismissed the issues raised by the defense before the trial, so there can be no doubt that they will be rejected again."

On the other hand, the defense lawyer claims in the appeal that there was lack of sufficient evidence that Miguel Angel Muñoz Blas was the person who robbed and murdered the American woman near the village of Castrillo de los Polvazares (León) while she was walking the Camino de Santiago, and therefore he requests the acquittal of his client.

During the trial held in the Provincial Court of León before a court of jury, the man now convicted, refused to testify, he did not answer the questions of any of the lawyers, or even of his own defense.

During the investigation, and after his arrest he admitted that he was the author of the death of Denise Pikka, and he detailed how he murdered the American pilgrim in April 2015.

During a process of reconstruction of the facts, he described how he killed her, where he buried her at first, and the place where he definitely moved her remains several months later, as well as the way he performed the amputation of the hands, hands that have never been found. He also described how he took her money, a little more than a thousand dollars, which the pilgrim carried in her backpack.

The exchange of money in a bank of Astorga, a few days after the disappearance of Denise, was one of the triggers that led the police to follow the trail of Miguel Angel Muñoz.

Despite having admitted the facts and actively collaborating in the location of the corpse, he later denied to be the author of the same.

Both the Public Prosecutor and the Private Prosecution will present their case against the Appeal that has been filed and request to maintain the sentence of 23 years in prison to which he was sentenced.

BBM

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results ..... there can little doubt that this lawyer will take the case to the European Court as well.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity ~ Hanlon's Razor

Does anyone know who pays the lawyers for these appeals? I assume that he doesn't have a great deal of money, from the previous descriptions of his circumstances. How can this keep going on and on and on?

Does anyone know who pays the lawyers for these appeals? I assume that he doesn't have a great deal of money, from the previous descriptions of his circumstances. How can this keep going on and on and on?

If I remember well, the lawyer is a friend of MAMB's father. The father owns property, he always worked hard and saved.

The lawyers for the Thiem family work pro bono. MAMB has been sentenced to pay their costs. If he ever does, it will probably out of his inheritance.

Vicente Prieto, the lawyer for MAMB has already indicated that he will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, so he'll keep everybody busy for quite a while to come.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity ~ Hanlon's Razor

The defense counsel of Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas has filed an appeal at the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León (TSJCyL) against the sentence of the Provincial Court of Leon that sentenced him to 23 years in prison as the author of the murder and of an offense of violent robbery of the American pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem.

The text of the appeal to which this medium has had access, requests the acquittal Muñoz Blas and asks the regional court to recognize a violation of fundamental rights to personal liberty, defense and presumption of innocence, although in a subsidiary and alternative way it requests that "the conduct passed judgement on, together with the crime of theft and estimation of the diminished responsibility factor of mental anomaly" be considered "a homicide". Throughout the letter, the lawyer insists that his client had been convicted as a murderer by the media from the moment of his arrest and tries to discredit the entire police investigation accusing the agents in charge of the investigation of having a true fixation on Muñoz Blas.

He also points out that other people whom Denise met during her pilgrimage to Santiago would, in his opinion, have the same reasons for being detained as his client.

According to the lawyer in the appeal, what follows from the trial held in the Provincial Court of León is "confirmation" that "Miguel Ángel Muñoz was detained without a constitutional basis, based on inferences and suspicions, and as a consequence, basically, because of his ideological views, and of his way of being, which was said to be angry or violent by people whose credibility must be reasonably questioned in light of the circumstances detailed by the agents of the Judicial Police in charge of the case.

BBM

I am somewhat surprised that in the eyes of the defense counsel, other people whom Denise met on the Way, would have been able to dig a grave, hide her body next to the house of MAMB in April while he was at home, and return at some point in August to unearth her remains and transport them to the location where they were finally found weeks later with the help and directions of MAMB.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity ~ Hanlon's Razor

The Third Section of the Provincial Court will hold a hearing on Friday, July 7, starting at 10:30 a.m. to determine whether Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, the murderer of the pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem, must serve at least half of the 23-year prison sentence imposed on him by the presiding magistrate last spring, after a popular jury found him guilty of assassination and violent robbery.

The parties are summoned for the hearing to determine whether the prison situation currently applied to Muñoz Blas will be extended. He is serving time in the Navalcarnero Penitentiary Center (Madrid) after requesting the transfer to that penitentiary to be closer to his family. The prosecutor will attend, the private accusation that is embodied by the Leonese lawyer Fernando Rodríguez Santocildes and the defense of the convicted man exercised by lawyer Vicente Prieto from Madrid.

Prieto recently filed an appeal in which he insists, as he has done throughout the trial, on the violation of fundamental rights, with the consideration that the right of defense has not been respected in the first police proceedings and allegations of irregularities in the arrest carried out, through an important police deployment, in the Asturian town of Grandas de Salime.

He also maintains that there is no evidence that his client was the perpetrator of the crime of which he is accused and assures that the verdict of the jury is based on mere indications, that are no proof.

Both the prosecution and the private prosecution will present their allegations against the appeal filed and will seek to maintain the sentence of 23 years in prison to which he was sentenced.

BBM

I am not sure if I understand this. MAMB had been in prison since September 2015, and was convicted in April of this year. Why would the prison sentence of 23 years need to be revised a mere three months after his conviction?

If I read this well, Spain never intends to keep him behind bars for 23 years, he will be out in half the time, or even before that. I do hope I am mistaken.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity ~ Hanlon's Razor

Whatever it is, if it started on time, it has started now.
I have been trying to figure out what today's hearing would be about and I haven't been able to find it. So very frrrustrrrating!

The hearing is being held at the Audiencia de León, which is a lower court, and the appeal has been filed with the Superior Court of Castilla and León. So this has probably nothing to do with the appeal.

Spain has laws that permit an early release after two thirds of the penalty and if the prisoner has been behaving well. That does not apply here, after 3 months. Unless there is a possibility to prevent early release from the beginning.

What provision is there for early release e.g. on parole?
Subject to good behaviour, undertaking such routine tasks as may be required by the authorities (e.g. on cleaning rosters) and participation in any specified education or welfare programmes, all prisoners will become eligible for parole (conditional release) on completion of three quarters of their sentence (or two-thirds if exceptionally well behaved).
This concession is submitted by the Prison Board to the Madrid Central Prison Board for approval. Failure to observe these, which could include regular reporting to the Court, would usually result in re-arrest to complete the sentence and possibly result in further charges.

What I did find was something I wasn't looking for - a recent comment (June 2017!) underneath a FB posting about an incident, on the page of the Camino Forum

.... however as I approached Astorga I noticed poster in all the albergues regarding a missing American woman, we were advised to not walk alone in this area, they kept this information very quiet and out of the mainstream media as they didn't want to frighten pilgrims from walking. This woman has never been found, her family were in Spain looking for her but to my knowledge she has never been found. It is important to be aware that the area around Astorga seems to be the problem area where many women came forward after the American woman was abducted to tell of being chased, I would advise walking with someone else in this area, I did.

Last edited by ZaZara; 07-07-2017 at 05:17 AM.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity ~ Hanlon's Razor

Local source tells me that the lawyer of MAMB has filed an appeal of sorts against the duration of the prison time.... "but they will not grant it. Today it is decided whether the sentence is final and can no longer be appealed."
Once the sentence is final, the duration of the prison time can no longer be appealed.

According to source, maximum prison time in Spain is 20 years anyway.

Whatever today's outcome, this will not stop the other appeals that the lawyer has filed or may file.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity ~ Hanlon's Razor

Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, the man sentenced to 23 years in prison for the murder of the pilgrim Denise Pikka Thiem in April 2015, requested on Friday his provisional release on the grounds that there is no evidence that he was the perpetrator of the crime of which he was found guilty in the verdict of the jury that tried his case last spring.

The Provincial Court held a hearing for the parties, to decide on the extension of the provisional prison of the convicted person, who declared by videoconference from the Madrid VI (Navalcarnero) Penitentiary Center, to which he was transferred from Villahierro by his own request, to be able to receive visits from his family.

Prosecutor and private accusation, the latter incarnated by the Leonese lawyer Fernando Rodríguez Santocildes, oppose this measure and also requested that at least half of the prison time must be extended to fulfill the sentence, in the understanding that there are relevant circumstances. The defense lawyer, Vicente Prieto, proposed the release of his client until a final decision is handed down, since the case is pending appeal at the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León.

According to the ruling, Muñoz Blas was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the murder of the pilgrim and three more years for a crime of violent robbery, in addition to having to pay 120,000 euros to the victim's parents and 30,000 to her brother. Likewise, he must return to the parents of Denise Pikka the $ 1,132 that the pilgrim carried when the crime took place.

The members of the jury considered it proven that on April 5, 2015, around noon, the pilgrim «Doña Denise Pikka Thiem, deviated from the official route of the Camino de Santiago following false indications that took her in front of the house of Miguel Angel Muñoz Blas, who accompanied her until he hit her and threw her to the ground, causing her death by traumatic brain injury."

They also considered it proven that immediately upon her death he buried her and amputated both hands, as well as that in August of that same year and under police pressure, changed the burial place of the body, towards which he himself led the police.

In his appeal, Vicente Prieto insists - as he has done throughout the trial - on violation of fundamental rights, considering that the right of defense has not been respected in the first police proceedings and alleging irregularities in the detention carried out, through an important police deployment, in the Asturian town of Grandas de Salime.

Rodriguez Santocildes considers that "all these issues were already dismissed by the TSJ of Castilla y León, when they were raised in the Appeal against the resolution dismissing the pre-trial issues raised by the defense, so that no there is no doubt that they will be again rejected."

BBM

IMHO as long as the appeals against the sentence are pending, the prison time is apparently provisional. And one might decide that an assassin spends this time outside prison, as if nothing has happened.

At the time, when we were biting our nails and waiting for the verdict of the jury, and later for the sentencing, all involved already knew that whatever the outcome, this would be merely theoretical and in real life, Denise's murderer could be out in half the time ~ counting from the day when he was first arrested.

I do hope I am wrong about this and that he serves at least 3/4 of his time but still I get the impression that a lot of what is presented as the outcome of a trial is merely theater, aimed to give us little people the impression that there is such thing as justice when there is obviously not.

No doubt the lawyer will also appeal the sums that MAMB has to pay Denise's parents and her brother.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity ~ Hanlon's Razor

Spanish police have opened an investigation into the death of a Belgian man of 41 years in the north of Spain, the federal department of foreign affairs indicated Monday. Today, we know a little more about the man's identity. According to the first findings of the investigation, his death would not have been natural.

RSBM

THE MOTHER OF JEROEN SCHELSTRAETE HAS RETURNED TO THE CAMINO FRANCÉS TO RETRACE THE STEPS OF HER SON

At the age of 70, the mother of the Belgian pilgrim killed on the Camino towards Santiago de Compostela last year is walking the stages of the 800 km of her son's mortal pilgrimage.

Because she wants to understand who killed her son, why and how, a Belgian mother whose son died last year on the Camino de Compostella has returned since two weeks on the 800 km route. "With every step I think of Jeroen. Emotionally, it is very hard," Rita Lootens, 70 years, confesses. She is the mother of Jeroen Schelstraete, who was killed on September 9, 2016 in northern Spain, and whose body was found thrown into compost dump in a container park in San Roman de la Vega.

The 41-year-old Belgian was killed by a violent blow to the head. The Spanish police have been investigating for ten months, at this stage without result: "Just before the summer, I emptied the house of Jeroen and I sold it. For a mother, it was very hard," Rita Lootens sighs .

Because the investigation is no longer progressing, the Belgian woman decided to go to the place where it happened, starting from Roncesvalles, in Navarra. "That's where I left my son at the end of August, where I saw him alive for the last time, we drank our last coffee, and from there he went on his way. I wanted to do it again, walking in his footsteps. "

Retracing his steps is not complicated. "Jeroen phoned me regularly because he knew I knew many addresses."

The distances are often above her strength, often too long for her, with a temperature of 45 degrees. "I have often had to stop, I can not continue, and now I limit myself to 10 to 12 km per day. We, my son and I, had done the pilgrimage together previously. And so many memories come back and help me to continue.
It was not possible last year (to walk to Compostela again together), but his girlfriend replaced me and walked with him. I had no concerns. Yes, I am glad that Jeroen could still walk to Santiago. "

Yesterday, his mother was in Los Arcos, at an address where she was certain that her son had stopped. "He had telephoned me and I had given him the address of this hostel where I knew he would have free access to the pool, and Jeroen was able to enjoy it for an entire day.

People who meet her, ask her questions. Rita Lootens: "I tell them the story of my son and what happened to him, that he was killed on the Camino and that we do not know who, why or how." A young South American of 25 started crying. "I'm going to stop telling everything, it's getting too hard, but a friend of Jeroen called me and told me my son would be proud of me."

The Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor's Office has requested access to the file of the Spanish authorities. Rita Lootens still hopes the investigation will succeed. She will not do the 800 km in one go. "My son was killed in early September, so I will be back on that date for the first anniversary."

BBM

Ultreia y suseia, Rita Lootens. May your Camino bring you justice and closure, and the support of many good people along the Way.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity ~ Hanlon's Razor

The Provincial Court of León decreed yesterday that Miguel Ángel Muñoz Blas, convicted as the perpetrator of the murder of the pilgrim Denisse Pikka Thiem, must remain in prison at least until 2027, despite the request for provisional release made by his lawyer.
The prosecution and the private accusation, represented by the Leonese lawyer Fernando Rodríguez Santocildes, had requested that the proposal be rejected. The Audiencia ratifies its position and determines that the guilty verdict of the jury is sufficiently motivated to keep the prisoner in his situation of incarceration in Navalcarnero (Madrid).

The Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León will hold a hearing to review the appeals filed by the parties in their briefs, within the legal deadlines.

BBM

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity ~ Hanlon's Razor